tooth_dr

1 minute ago, paul mc c said:

Nice one.....took over 50,30 sec pics last night and did'nt capture one.

Thanks PauI, I looked for a bit myself and didnt see any.  Mostly these were early in the morning.  But actually got quite a few on the 8th too.

I decided to combined all the images from my meteor camera into a few composites images.   I had a total of 89 confirmed Perseids over three nights, which I was very happy with.  This plot shows the position of the meteors relative to my location.

Thanks for looking.

2 minutes ago, Craney said:

You can do it in  AutoStakkert3.   (before you do any stacking)

When you load up your AVI file, two boxes appear.  The 'image' one has a sliding bar thingy on the top which allows you to step through the frames.  Get to your transit ones and  export each of the frame individually.

Then a bit of Photoshop adding....... 

I did the process yesterday and got this....

Wow sean that’s amazing. 

14 minutes ago, upahill said:

The Prusa are pretty much the "gold standard" for home 3d printers, a lot of innovation from Josef and his team that usually finds it way into the clones shortly after.

Good prices, I use amazon as the returns are super simple so just looked there first but yeah anywhere from £160-£200 is about right for the Ender 3 - some are clones (usually branded as Hictop) so worth watching out for those. Some come with the BL Touch option for bed leveling but its not something I use, some people swear by it, others cant stand it - im old school and level up by eye / with a set of feeler guages. The prusa printers use a much more complex and reliable self levelling system.

Filament is the same, some swear by £30+ rolls of filament, I use whatever is the cheapest grey I can get (£9-11 a roll) and yeah I get a few failures but generally my stuff comes out ok if the machine is calibrated for the filament.

 

Just realised I'd be a bit mad starting off with a £700+ printer!  So I'm going to order the Ender 3.  Any accessories that you reckon are essential?

Seems to be a few deals? 

https://technologyoutlet.co.uk/collections/refurbished-3d-printers

19 minutes ago, upahill said:

If your budget is flexible, and you want less headaches with features like self-leveling etc, or if you are prepred to go second hand then you cant go wrong with a Prusa either:

https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/180-original-prusa-i3-mk3-kit.html

Cheaper clones of the prusa are also available.

Thanks, I would definitely revise my budget if needed, the reviews seem good for that model.

Hi guys

I acquired an EFW on here, with a known fault.  I really need to see an image of the inside of another one to see if there is an issue with this one.  Would anyone be able to help.  It's the 7 x 2" wheel.

TIA and CS

Adam

5 minutes ago, upahill said:

 

Ender 3 is the one I recommend to everyone. Bought one for my dad and it just works, very few tweaks required. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Creality-3D-Megnetic-Certified/dp/B07J64F5LY/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=ender&qid=1565702172&s=gateway&sr=8-4

At £199 or "230 with the magnetic heat bed sticker and upgraded power supply its pretty reasonably priced too.

They have a newer version the ender 5 but I have no experience of that directly.

Thanks for that

My friend, who has several printers, seem to encounter a lot issues and failed prints.  Is this the norm?

I've been getting my friend to print out the occasional part for me on his 3d printer, exclusively for astroimaging applications.  However I'm getting a bit conscious of asking him, and as such I think I would like to take the plunge and buy my own.

I feel like the guy asking 'Whats the best telescope to buy?' on the forum!

So any recommendations?  Something for small stuff, £500 or less.

TIA

Adam.

7 minutes ago, barkis said:

The warm up is actually a cooling down is it not ?

There is a warm up function that warms up the sensor when you are finished image to prevent dew on the sensor.

A cool down function cools it to the working temperature eg -15 or -20 degC

14 minutes ago, Nikolas74 said:

I always have this problem when i want to warm up my CCD (ATIK 383L+) and previously with other Atik cameras, although the outside temp is at 30°C the warm up can't reach that temp... for example today it stopped at 17°C and didn't want to go to 28°C that i had set it.....

Anyone knows why ? and is it safe not to warm up the CCD at correct temp ?

Nikolas. 

I have this same Atik camera, and also use APT.  I always use warm up, but I do not use it to go to ambient temp.  I set mine to got to 5deg C so that is above freezing point and then shut it down.  I dont know why yours isnt going to 28oC.  I have never seen 28degC at my location lol.  I wouldnt be concerned, 17degC is fine.

Totally clear here for a chance but a big moon. I had a look for a bit but didn’t see any Perseids.  However left the cameras running so hopefully pick up some. I recorded about 15-20 last night that I am confident are Perseids but haven’t done the analysis yet.

26 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

The forces of nature are so incredible!

I try to tell my grandchildren that if you can get past the "boom" a thunder storm is beautiful to watch.

Any time in Florida, we've always been treated to a few good storms.  This one was nice because there was no thunder to be heard, nor any rain.

There seems to be loads of nice detail in the Nebula! Great job. 

Pretty fantastic so far. Clearly visible. You know I might just give this one a go. 

That’s a nice image. Not one I’ve seen before 👍🏼

Very nice. Lovely colour and dark dust lane. Top job 😎

4 hours ago, alan potts said:

Beautiful shots, we had about 60storms in May and June, very much like this, now it's 40c

Alan

Thanks Alan. Did you try any photos?

2 hours ago, ArgusFPV said:

https://teleskop-austria.at/information/pdf/SWN1507eq3_Skywatcher_Crayfor-Auszug_justieren.pdf

Yes, it's a pretty good guide! I hope it helps some folk out. 

Have you physically smoothed out the flat surface on the drawtube?

Amazing image for such a little camera 👍🏼

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

The Baader Diamond Steeltrack is just a higher quality focuser using better materials and made with higher precision so it will last longer without wearing. Basically it’s you get what you pay for.

I didn’t realise where the name came from! That makes a lot of sense now!

Better by the sounds of it. But still not sure what part wears out on the SW focuser?

2 hours ago, ArgusFPV said:

I've adjusted mine multiple times now using a guide FLO sent me. Made sure the contact is perfectly level and the pressure is appropriate. It works for a little while but always ends up slipping again. 

Can you post that guide here? Might be useful for others too. 

3 hours ago, ArgusFPV said:

Hi all, as in the title I'm considering fitting my SW 80ED DS pro with the upgraded focuser. I use my rig for imaging so is there any special considerations I need to make i.e. how it will change my image train. I use the SW reducer/flattener with a Canon 600d. 

Thanks in advance

Lee

Lee I don’t think that that is a particularly heavy load. I used a pair of ED80s regularly both with Canon 40d and 0.85x Reducer/Flattener, and there were no issues with slippage.  I’d say that’s a similar weight to yours.

I moved onto an Atik CCD and filter wheel and then got slippage. The addition of the SW motor focuser eliminated this entirely.

I’d look at adjusting the barrel contact profile first before splashing the cash personally. 

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

I’ve had a couple of the Skywatcher crayfords and found they are fine as long as you don’t put much load on them. Also they don’t last as long as say a Baader due to the cheaper materials used. However they fairly well priced.

Genuine question John, but what does not last as long in the SW focusers compared with a baader?

I have a SW focuser motor on both of mine and this really makes the difference. It doesn’t slip now.